Humans and Chimpanzees: How We Are Closely Related, Explained Simply

Scientists have found overwhelming proof that humans and chimpanzees are very closely related, like close cousins on the family tree of life. About 6 to 9 million years ago, long before humans as we know them existed, there was a species that was the common ancestor of both chimpanzees and humans. This means that humans did not evolve from chimpanzees, but both species evolved separately from this shared ancestor.

How do we know this? Over many years, researchers have studied our biology and especially our genetic material—the “instructions” inside every cell of our bodies that tell us how to grow and function. When scientists compare the DNA—the molecule carrying genetic information—of humans and chimpanzees, they find it is strikingly similar. In fact, around 98.7% of our DNA is exactly the same as that of chimpanzees. This small difference shows how recently we split from a common origin compared to other animals.

Scientists use this genetic similarity to draw a family tree, showing how close species are related. In this tree, humans and chimpanzees are the closest living relatives, sharing a more recent ancestor with each other than with gorillas or orangutans.

Scientists have also learned that this split didn’t happen overnight. It took millions of years during which early humans and chimpanzees were slowly becoming different from each other. Some parts of our DNA changed faster than others during this time, which is why we now look and behave differently.

Fossils of this common ancestor are rare and hard to find, but the clues in our DNA and in ancient bones discovered by scientists help us understand this evolutionary journey.

Rocking the Religious Power Boat

Religious leaders often become deeply offended by the idea of human evolution from apes because it directly challenges the foundations of their authority. Their power traditionally rests on claims that humans are uniquely created in the image of a divine being, separate and superior to animals, often with souls or special status granted only by God. The scientific evidence that humans share a recent common ancestor with apes undermines these claims by placing humans within the natural, biological world rather than a special, supernatural creation. This challenges the divine mandate that legitimizes their leadership and teachings. Accepting human ape ancestry could weaken followers’ faith in religious doctrines, thereby threatening religious leaders’ influence and control over social and moral order.[1][2][5][6]

Throughout history, some human leaders have become dangerously ruthless, resorting to killing—or directing others to kill—non-believers in order to preserve their power. This violence was rarely about the specific ideas themselves but rather about the threat those ideas posed to established authority. As a result, science learned to coexist with religion by respecting boundaries, often declaring matters of spirit to lie beyond the scope of scientific inquiry, thereby protecting itself while navigating the delicate balance of belief and power.

Denial of the Evidence is Understandable

Some people experience intense denial and even emotional meltdown over human evolution because accepting our biological ancestry challenges deeply held beliefs about identity, purpose, and the nature of existence. This can trigger fear, cognitive dissonance, and threat to their worldview, especially if it undermines religious teachings that confer special status and authority. Ego says we are more, we are better, we are not dirty animals! Psychological studies show denial often arises from mortality anxiety, the need for certainty, religious group social pressure and discomfort with the vast timescales and randomness involved in evolution. In essence, the truth can be too unsettling for some to face, so they reject it to protect their sense of meaning, control, and social belonging—a defense deeply rooted in human psychology and cultural identity.

Neanderthal DNA Shows More Evidence

DNA from Neanderthal remains shows that humans are even more closely related to Neanderthals than to other apes, sharing about 99.7% of their DNA, which means our genetic blueprint is nearly identical to theirs. Neanderthals and modern humans diverged from a common ancestor roughly 400,000 years ago, yet they coexisted and interbred to some extent before Neanderthals became extinct about 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. This close relationship shows that, rather than completely wiping them out, our ancestors likely absorbed some Neanderthal heritage into the human gene pool, leaving many living humans today carrying about 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA. The idea that we “killed them all off” is an oversimplification; the reality was more complex, involving competition, interbreeding, and climate challenges that led to their disappearance as a distinct population.

Interbreeding, Neanderthal, Gods and Demigods

I personally subscribe to the unproven theory that some ancient references to “gods” may stem from memories of interbreeding with Neanderthals, who were physically larger and stronger than modern humans. Although they went extinct 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, evidence shows humans and Neanderthals coexisted and interbred multiple times starting around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. This left genetic traces and likely influenced early human populations and cultural memories. Their great strength and stature could have been mythologized as “giants” or divine beings, possibly inspiring stories of demi-gods like Gilgamesh—offspring of gods and humans. Thus, while Neanderthals disappeared as a group, their biological and cultural impact may have inspired ancient myths of powerful, god-like figures.

Summary

Humans and chimpanzees share a close family connection from around 6–9 million years ago.
Our DNA is almost identical, which means we are more alike than with any other animal.
The split from our common ancestor was a slow process, not an instant change.
This close relationship confirms that humans are part of the great ape family, genetically and biologically.

So, even if you’ve never heard of “genomic evidence” before, think of it as a detailed comparison of the biological “blueprints” that every living thing has. Scientists use these comparisons to understand family relationships in the tree of life. And the evidence clearly shows humans and chimpanzees have a very close family tie.